We tried this delightful Lebanese-style mushroom shoarma, and it was hands-down the best vegetarian one we ever had! Added bonus: social distancing comes naturally with the amount of garlic in the toum sauce!
Vegan Mushroom Shoarma with Toum
Recipe by
Inspired by Merijn Tol, Het Parool (in Dutch)
Servings
4 servings
(toum: 20 tbsp)
Prep time
30 min
+ 6-8 hour marinade/dehydration
Cooking time
25 min
Calories
600 kcal
Shoarma pita is a favorite of ours. This Middle Eastern sandwich usually ends up in a glorious mess of grilled strips of marinated meat, topped with pickles, garlic or onion sauce, and (raw) vegetables, like tomato, onion, and cabbage or beetroot. If you are not paying attention, you could have sauce escaping through the cracks and rolling down your hands into your sleeves.
This recipe is from Merijn Tol, a Dutch cookbook writer, and culinary editor of various publications. She was drawn to Middle Eastern and North-African cuisines ever since her studies and – together with long time colleague – Nadia Zerouali, had a regular segment on 24Kitchen. Last but not least, Dutch supermarkets carry their range of Middle Eastern ingredients and condiments under the moniker Nadia & Merijn’s Souq.
Chantal has tried various brands of vegetarian alternatives throughout the years, but the texture of the meat substitutes was often off-putting. Therefore, she thought that the mushrooms would be an interesting alternative to Quorn (her favorite thusfar). I was more interested in the Lebanese angle: the baharat spice mixture, the cinnamon and mint semi-dried tomatoes, and, last but not least, the toum, which is an egg-free garlic mayo-like sauce.
Baharat is actually the Arabic word for ‘spices’ and will have different components from region to region. This Lebanese version is a delicious combination of cinnamon, turmeric, cumin, cayenne, white and black peppers, cardamom, and allspice.
Similarly, Toum is the Arabic word for ‘garlic’. This makes sense as it is a bold yet versatile garlic dip kindred to the Provençal aioli. Toum is also an ideal sauce to go with everything grilled or as a sandwich spread. You can even use it as a condiment to give soups and sauces an instant kick. It is vegan and made with just garlic, salt, lemon juice, and vegetable oil (and sometimes also chopped fresh mint), and a little goes a long, long, long way.
I made the shoarma from roughly chopped oyster mushrooms and onion, spectacularly mixed with my baharat of cumin, turmeric, allspice, cardamom, cinnamon, peppers, and rosemary.
That same delightful mix was added to loads of finely sliced onions that I sautéed until sweet and spicy. The mushrooms were marinated overnight before they hit a ripping hot pan. One of the best vegetarian shoarma we ever had. The deliciously flavored, firm, and “meaty” mushrooms, sweetish onions, pungent garlic sauce, and fresh mint to liven things up.
The recipe
Ingredients
- For the mushroom shoarma and baharat
- 400g / 14oz oyster mushrooms, cut in strips
- 5 medium onions, diced finely
- 4 tsp ground cinnamon
- 4 tsp ground cumin
- 4 tsp turmeric
- 3 tsp ground black pepper
- 2 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1 tsp ground white pepper
- 1 tsp ground allspice
- 4 cardamom pods, smashed and the black seeds removed
- 2 sprigs of rosemary, pins removed and finely chopped
- For the Toum
- 1 head of garlic, peeled, halved and germs removed
- juice of half a lemon
- 300ml / 1¼ cup sunflower oil
- For the semi-dried tomatoes:
- 6 ripe Pomodoro tomatoes, halved lengthwise
- 1 tbsp dried mint
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- To serve:
- Flatbreads or pitas
- 1 bunch of mint, leaves only
- Pickles (I used courgette and red peppers)
Directions
- Marinade the mushrooms in the baharat: For the baharat spices, combine all spices and mix about ¾ of it with the oyster mushrooms, chopped rosemary, a sprinkling of salt, and a good glug of oil. Let them marinate for 8 hours or overnight (although shorter is also possible).
- Pre-heat the oven: to 100°C / 210°F.
- Prepare the tomatoes: On a baking tray, sprinkle the Pomedori tomatoes with the cinnamon, dried mint, salt, and olive oil and dehydrate the tomatoes in the oven for 6 to 8 hours.
- Make the toum: Puree the garlic cloves with the lemon juice and salt into a paste with a stick blender. Add the sunflower oil in a slow, steady stream to get a mayonnaise-like consistency (see NOTE below).
- Sauté the onions: About 20 minutes before preparing the shoarma, start sautéing the onions on medium-low heat with 1 tbsp of vegetable oil and the remaining baharat, until soft and sweet
- Fry the mushrooms: Pre-heat a frying pan on high heat and flash fry the marinated mushrooms in just a touch of oil (the oil from marinating will release during the cooking) and mix in the sauteed onions.
- Garnish and Serve: Take a flatbread or pita bread and arrange with the fresh mint leaves and the mushroom/onion shoarma. Finish with pickles, 2 or 3 semi-dried tomatoes, and a dollop of toum. Serve immediately and enjoy!
Notes
When preparing the semi-dried tomatoes, I had some doubts of the quantities of cinnamon and dried mint, but they were incredibly tasty, neither flavor was overpowering and a great accompaniment to the mushroom shoarma (and your house will smell amazing too!). Hardly anything to improve, but personally, I like the sautéed onions to be on the verge of getting soft for the extra texture and punch.
As mentioned in the recipe, when using a stick blender, the toum will have mayonnaise-like consistency. Please note that the wooden mortar and pestle or a food processor will give the toum its original light and – for lack of a better word – fluffy texture.
In any case, it is key is that you blend/grind the garlic into a smooth paste to release the emulsifying elements from the broken-down cell walls. I used the food processor and ended up with roughly chopped garlic rather than a paste. If so, there is a significant possibility that the toum will split and only resembles a milky liquid (yup, been there…). Therefore, I’d advise to first use a mortar and pestle for the garlic paste and then finish in the food processor. However, if the toum does split, don’t despair as it can easily be brought back together (although it won’t be vegan anymore). Combine an egg white with 60ml / ¼ cup of the broken emulsion in a clean bowl of a food processor and mix until it starts coming together. With the food processor still running, slowly pour in the remaining broken emulsion until the toum turns fluffy.
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